Kronos Aims to Bring Green Energy to All

By Michael Waddell

Kronos Energy Solutions is hard at work on a new hybrid charging system for electric cars, which it hopes to debut in the next six to nine months, and the company is also making plans for possible expansion of its headquarters in Cordova by early next year.

Kronos founder and owner John Bogensberger cites his six grandchildren as constant motivators for working to provide a better world for the future.

“When I formed Kronos in July 2009, I wanted to put my money where my mouth was and offer something better for my grandkids,” said Bogensberger, who started his company with the belief that sustainable, renewable energy should be available and affordable to everyone.

“Everybody is talking green, but few people are walking green,” Bogensberger said. “Everything we do is about being green. Even when I am making equipment purchases, I look for products that have zero environmental impact.”

“We come up with new and innovative applications for old technologies and figure out how we can make them work better for people. We are not creating anything new,” said Bogensberger, who cites the fact that vertical axis wind turbine technology dates back to 600 B.C.

“We are a community-involved and faith-based organization that takes care of its employees,” said Bogensberger, a disabled U.S. veteran who served for 12 years in the U.S. Navy. “We even recycle people. Everyone that works here has never worked in this industry before.”

As part of its community commitment, Kronos and its transitional department work to hire or help find work for other military veterans and the formerly unemployed and homeless.

Last fall, Bogensberger bought out his initial financial backer’s stake in the company, which now has 15 employees. By early next year, he hopes to be able to enlarge the company’s current 15,000-square foot space in Cordova by as much as 80,000 square feet.

Next up, Kronos is developing a hybrid charging system for electric cars that it plans to debut by the first quarter of next year.

“The program is called ALGA, and it’s part of a solar- and wind-powered hybrid charging station with zero carbon footprint,” said Bogensberger, who remains tight-lipped about specifics until closer to its release date.

T.R.I.P.S. (Totally Renewable Integrated Power System) stations or towers offer citizens the opportunity to join ALGA. Users are issued swipeable cards that are then used to access electric cars that can be driven anywhere within a metro area. When finished, the cars are simply dropped off and plugged back into the nearest charging station.

The flower-shaped T.R.I.P.S. stations are designed to be visually inert and blend in with surroundings, much like cell phone towers.

Locally Kronos hopes to deliver five T.R.I.P.S. poles to Agricenter International in the fall.

Overall the company does the majority of its business outside the U.S.

“It’s an uphill battle for renewables in the U.S. because we (as a community) think the petroleum bucket has no bottom,” said Bogensberger, who established strong international connections while handling global business for KONE, Wittur North America and Mid-America Door.

Bogensberger is currently working to establish a joint venture in the United Kingdom with power control company Lifteknic, and it just signed a manufacturing agreement in Tartistan in southern Russia for five of the T.R.I.P.S. solar- and wind-powered hybrid charging systems.

Bogensberger points out that many people are not aware that electric cars can have a larger carbon footprint than a standard “smoke burning” car.

“And they are taxing an already taxed electrical grid,” he said. “What will they do with the lithium ion cells afterwards?”

Kronos is also in the process of trying to establish a foothold in the local semi-tractor trailer fairings industry.

“In the past two years, the number of all trucks on the road with fairings has grown from only 7.5 percent to between 40 percent and 45 percent, and the forecast is that in the next five years you won’t buy a trailer without them on it,” he said.

Fairings made by Kronos show 16 percent diesel fuel savings versus other brands, according to Bogensberger, and they boast a life expectancy of 84 months.

“Everyone who has tested them so far has said they are a superior product,” he said. “We are offering a top quality product for about $1,000 under our lowest competitor.”